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March 12, 2010
Camp life is now on display
A new exhibit reveals the heart of our community’s history.
KYLE BERGER
Jewish community centres, Jewish federations and synagogues are important components to building community. But summer camps really represent the backbone, past and future, of any Jewish community.
This is the message that the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia will share when their newest exhibit opens March 18.
Home Away from Home: Building Identity and Community at Jewish Summer Camps will focus on the three major overnight facilities that British Columbia’s Jewish youth inhabit each summer: Camp Miriam, Camp Hatikvah and Camp Solomon Schechter.
Exhibit curator Michael Schwartz said the displays will paint as clear a picture of the growth and development of our community as could any other organization.
“Too often history is understood as grown-ups or important people doing big or important things,” he said in an interview with the Independent. “I think that is a really antiquated way of understanding things.
“The camps teach the kids about leadership, community values and social justice, and then the camps feed back into the community by providing leadership, skills and the personal relationships that make people want to stay involved,” he continued, noting that the three camps have flourished alongside the community after the Second World War. “Camp experiences and what we gained from them, tell us a lot about the history of our community and how our priorities have evolved.”
Schwartz has spent months collecting old photos, T-shirts, letters home, yearbooks and 50-year-old promotional materials for the exhibit, which will include a timeline to chart the growth and history of the camps.
There will also be an interactive display that features an area where visitors can hear portions of some of the interviews done with camp alumni. They will also be able to listen to the songs that are sung at camp and learn what they are about.
Schwartz noted that other key elements of the exhibit will examine the educational components provided by the camps, as well as how city life and camp life differed and how they came together.
“You learn in a way at camp that you don’t learn at school,” he said. “Fun has a lot to do with it, creativity has a lot to do with it and community has a lot to do with it.
“There is something about the opportunity to build a community in isolation from adults, which allows [campers] to do things outside of the boundaries of what they may have in the city,” he continued. “When kids are playing together in the basement with Lego or with blocks, they invent whole new worlds. When we take those kids and stick them in the woods with young adult leaders, the boundaries just fall down and they can really invent anything.”
Schwartz, who was a camper, counselor, education director and, most recently, the head of Camp Miriam a few years ago, said that he enjoyed learning more about a topic he thought he already knew so much about.
He specifically appreciated listening to the stories that emphasized how much the camp experience has changed over the years.
“Hearing some 60-year-olds talk about camp, we can see that they did a lot of sitting around and the responsible ‘adults’ were 15 years old,” he explained. “That wouldn’t fly today, where every hour is scheduled and there are all sorts of activities aimed at widening the kids’ horizons and exposing them to different things. It’s a whole different game now.”
Regardless of the development and growth that has taken place over the years, there have also been some consistencies to which all campers can relate. Some of this was articulated in one of the letters home framed for display.
“On the last night they gave us spaghetti that tasted like rubber,” wrote a camper named Carmi. “And when we turned the bowl upside down the spaghetti didn’t even fall out.” Some things never change.
The community is invited to the opening event, March 18, 7-9 p.m., at the museum. There will also be an after-hours wine and cheese event for camp alumni on March 25. Schwartz will then lead a curator’s talk, on April 15.
The museum is also working on other events set for June that will feature an open mic for alumni to share camp stories and a family day at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, featuring arts and crafts for kids and a large Ga-ga game in the gymnasium.
For information, call 604-257-5199 or visit jewishmuseum.ca.
Kyle Berger is a freelance reporter living in Richmond. He is also one of the featured interviewees in the exhibit.
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